Saturday 27th June 2026 10pm to late, Function Hall
Was 0-0 at half-time cause for concern? Of course it was as Panama was following Ghana’s playbook of solid defence and England was following England’s playbook of no creativity in attack.
But hey-ho, England was not playing to stay in the competition as that was guaranteed. At stake was the fork in the road for the knock-out stage where Group L’s winner could have the easier path for match dates, times, venues and even opponents versus its runner-up.
And so by the mid point in this match England were indeed on course to be the group’s runner-up as Croatia were ahead in theirs gifting them that ‘easier’ path for the Group’s winner.
After the break it didn’t seem that “runner-up” had been mentioned to England as the wait for goals continued until the 62nd minute when Bellingham scored from a Saka corner followed in the 67th by Mr H Kane heading in a cross from Bellingham.
Phew, time to relax with certain knowledge that England were Group winners and the ‘easier’ route forwards was theirs.
Mr H Kane could also celebrate his record of 11 personal goals in World Cups, better than any other England player past or present.
Match highlights in this quickie Fifa video, no ads, Panama in white & England in red (opens in new tab):
https://www.fifa.com/en/watch/22YjMVCjKIb6m3PjnvWtXB
So it’s off to Match 80 in the “Round of 32” – at 5pm (BST) Wednesday 1st July 2026 in Atlanta – against a 3rd-placed team drawn from groups E, H, I, J, K (currently looking like being DR Congo).